REPTILIA: : SERPENTES:

Catalogue of American Amphibians and .

Camper, J.D. 1996. schoni. Masticophis schotti (Baird and Girard) Schott's Whipsnake

Masricophis schorri Baird and Girard, 1853: 160. Type-locali- ty, "Eagle Pass,Tex." Holotype, National Museum of Natu- ral History (USNM) 1972, adult male (943 mm SVL), col- lected by Arthur Schott, date unknown (examined by au- thor). Bascaniwn schottii: Cope, 1891 :622. Zamenis schorrii: Cope, 1900:811 (part). Coluber schotri: Stejneger and Barbour, 1917:80 (part). Masticophis taeniarus schotri: Gloyd and Conant, 1934:4.

Content. Two subspecies are recognized, schorri and rulhveni.

Definition. Masricophis schotti is a large (to 1240 mm SVL), long-tailed (to 38% TL) species of whipsnake with 15 anterior and midbody scale rows. Posterior scale rows number 10-13. Males have 18 1-212 ventrals and 120- 166 subcaudals; females have 18 1-218 ventrals and 1 13- 162 subcaudals. Two preoculars and 2 postoculars are present in most specimens. Temporals number 5-7 and increase in size posteriorly. Supralabials num- ber 6-9 (mode 8), with supralabials 4 and 5 entering the orbit. Infralabials number 8-10 (mode 9) and increase in size posteri- orly. One loreal scale and one scale pit are usually present. The eyes are large with prominent supraorbital ridges. Maxillary teeth number 15-21 and increase in size posteriorly. The hemipenis extends 6-13 subcaudals posterior to the vent. The dorsal and ventral ground color varies from grayish- green to almost solid black. One or two light lateral stripes may be present or absent. The lower stripe occupies the lower half of scale row 1 and the adjacent tips of ventrals. The upper stripe is on the upper half of scale row 3 and the lower half of scale Map. Distribution of Masticophis schotti. Large circles mark row 4. Paired white, cream, yellow, or orange spots are on the type-localities; dots indicate other records. anterior comers of the dorsal scales. Head scales are uniformly dark with no light temporal spot. Red pigmentation occurs im- mediately posterior to the jaw angle and on subcaudals.

Figure 1. Masticophis schotti nl!hvrtli from Cameron County, Texas. Photograph by Carl S. Lieb.

I Diagnosis. This species is the only species of Masticophis sponses to toad venom (Licht and Low, 1968), food habits with 15 dorsal scale rows having both dorsal speckling and red (Camper, 1990), reproduction (Fitch, 1970; McCrystal and pigment at the angle of the jaw and lacking pale bordering on Dixon, 1983), and karyotype (Baker et a]., 1972). the head scales. Remark. This species was included as a subspecies in the Descriptions. Thorough descriptions were given by Masticophis taeniatus account (Parker, 1982), but is addressed Ortenburger (1928) and Camper and Dixon (1994). Descrip- separately here because of the change in its taxonomic status tions of one or both subspecies are in Cope (1900), Ortenburger (see Comment in the revised M. taeniatus account by Camper, (1923), Smith (1941), Wright and Wright (1957). and Conant 1996). and Collins (1991). Ditmars (1936, 1939), Schmidt and Davis (1941), Cochran and Goin (1970), and Behler and King (1979) Etymology. The name schotti is a patronym honoring Arthur contain additional descriptive information. Schott, collector of the type-specimen and member of the U.S. and Mexican Boundary Survey, and ruthveni is a patronym rec- Illustrations. Black and white drawings or photographs are ognizing Alexander G. Ruthven, noted U.S. herpetologist. found in most references listed under Descriptions. Color illus- trations can be found in Tennant (1984, 1985) and Conant and Comment. Masticophis schotti is in need of a detailed eco- Collins (1991). Gloyd and Conant (1934) illustrated oviposi- logical study like that of M. taeniatus by Parker and Brown tion and habitat, and Ortenburger (1923, 1928) the hemipenis. (1980). More specimens from Mtxico are needed to pinpoint areas of intergradation between the subspecies. Distribution. This species inhabits arid brush, grassland, desert, and montane forest to eleveations of about 2300 m from *Acknowledgments. I thank James R. Dixon for help with the the Balcones Escarpment of central Texas south on the Gulf literature and the Camegie Museum of Natural History for per- Coastal Plain through Tamaulipas to central Veracruz. mission to use the figure. Masticophis schotti occurs west through Nuevo LeQ, eastern Coahuila, San Luis Potosi, Querttaro, and Hidalgo to Guanajuato 1. Masticophis schotti schotti (Baird and Girard) and Michoach on the Mexican Plateau. The western limits of its range in northern Mtxico are unclear. Range maps are in Masticophis schotti Baird and Girard, 1853:160. See species Morafka (1977), Parker (1982), and Smith and Brodie (1982). synonymy. Additional information about distribution and habitat are as fol- Bascanium taeniatum laterale: Yarrow, 1875543 (part). lows: Texas -Raun (1966), Raun and Gehlbach (1972), Lewis Zumenis taeniatus schotti: Boulenger, 1893:391 (part). (1974), Karges (1978, 1981), Vermersch and Kuntz (1986), Zumenis taeniatus taeniatus: Strecker, 1915:36 (part). Dixon (1987); Mtxico - Smith (1941, 1943), Smith and Tay- Masticophis taeniatus schotti: Gloyd and Conant, 1934:4. lor (1945), Shannon and Smith (1949), Martin (1958), Duellman Coluber taeniatus schotti: Stejneger and Barbour, 1939:106. (1961), Dixon et al. (1972), and Smith and Smith (1976). Masticophis schotti schotti: Camper and Dixon, 1994: 1. First use of combination. Fossil Record. None. Definition. Masticophis s. schotti is a subspecies with 15 an- Pertinent Literature. Comprehensive taxonomic works in- terior and midbody dorsal scale rows, paired cream colored pale clude those by Ortenburger (1928) and Camper and Dixon spots on the anterior dorsal scale comers, and invariably two (1994). No detailed ecological information exists for this spe- prominent pale dorsolateral stripes. cies. Elements of the biology of M. schotti which have received attention are biogeography (Smith and Buechner, 1947), use as 2. Masticophis schoai ruthveni (Ortenburger) an outgroup in phylogenetic analyses (Grismer, 1990), dorsal pigmentation as an antipredator strategy (Jackson et al., 1976). Masticophis ruthveni Ortenburger, 1923:2. 'Qpe-locality, vertebral form (Johnson, 1955), morphological character state "Brownsville, Texas." Holotype, University of Michigan polarity (Marx and Rabb, 1972; Rabb and Marx, 1973), re- Museum of Zoology (UMMZ) 57681, adult male (1 104

Figure 2. Dorsal pattern of adult Masticophis schotti ruthveni (from Camper and Dixon, 1994): (A) two-striped pattern most common throughout the range of this subspecies; (B) four-striped pattern found infrequently throughout the range of this subspe- cies; (C) rare stripeless pattern. mm SVL), collected by A.I. Ortenburger, date unknown Univ. Michigan (287): 1- 17 + 3 pl. fl (examined by author). Grismer, L.L. 1990. Relationships, , and biogeogra- Coluber ruthveni: Stejneger and Barbour, 1923:88. phy of the Masticophis lateralis complex in Baja Califor- Masticophis taeniatus ruthveni: Gloyd and Conant, 1934:4. nia, Mtxico. Herpetologica 46:66-77. Coluber taeniatus ruthveni: Stejneger and Barbour, 1939: 105. Jackson, J.F., W. Ingram 111, and H.W. Campbell. 1976. The Masticophis taeniatus australis: Smith, 1941:390 (part). 5pe- dorsal pigmentation pattern of as an antipredator locality, "Guanajuato." Holotype, National Museum of strategy: a multivariate approach. Amer. Nat. 110:1029- Natural History (USNM) 10240,juvenile female (358 mm 1053. SVL), collected by Alfedo Dugts, 1879 (examined by au- Johnson, R.G. 1955. The adaptive and phylogenetic significance thor). of vertebral form in snakes. Evolution 9:367-388. Masticophis schotti ruthveni: Camper and Dixon, 1994:20. First Karges, J.P. 1978. Texas amphibians and reptiles: some new use of combination. distributional records, part 1. Herpetol. Rev. 9:143-145. -. 1981. Texas amphibians and reptiles: some new distribu- Definition. Masticophis s. ruthveni is a subspecies with 15 tional records, part 111. Herpetol. Rev. 12:68-69. anterior and midbody dorsal scale rows, paired cream, yellow, Lewis, M.R. 1974. Recent county records and range extensions or orange dorsal spots, from 0-2 narrow dorsolateral stripes, and from southcentral Texas. Herpetol. Rev. 5:21. a ground color that ranges from green to almost black. Licht, L.E. and B. Low. 1968. Cardiac response of snakes after ingestion of toad parotoid venom. Copeia 1968547-55 1. Literature Cited Martin, P.S. 1958. A biogeography of reptiles and amphibians in the Gomez Farias region, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Misc. Baird, S.F., and C. Girard. 1853. Catalogue of North American Publ. Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan (101):l-102 + 7 pl. reptiles in the museum of the Smithsonian Institution, Part Marx, H. and G.B. Rabb. 1972. Phyletic analysis of fifty char- I. Serpents. Smithsonian Inst. Washington, D.C. acters of advanced snakes. Fieldiana Zool. 63:viii + 321 p. Baker, R.J., G.A. Mengden, and J.J. Bull. 1972. Karyotypic stud- McCrystal, H.K. and J.R. Dixon. 1983. Eggs and young of ies of thirty-eight species of North American snakes. Copeia Schott's whipsnake, Masticophis taeniatus schotti. Texas 1972:257-265. J. Sci. 35161-163. Behler, J.L. and F.W. King. 1979. The Audubon Society field Morafka, D.J. 1977. 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